Jack Tyler wrote:snip
Great post Jack.
Economics plays a role, but not in a make or break way. I'm kinda a bargain hunter by nature but my income is decent.
I think everyone approaches "adventure" differently. To me... well, I travel light. Well, I personally weigh too much right now (though I've dropped about 20lbs and counting since my "what happened????" moment) but I can carry everything I need for a week of travel in one hand.
For motorcycle touring I have a system.
Bedroll/sleeping bag/etc:
http://www.wolfmanluggage.com/Expeditio ... uffel.html -- about 6lbs loaded
Personal stuff/basic camping gear (hammock, stove, etc):
http://specopstech.com/osc/product_info ... 0a70945e75 (mine isn't that color but it has stood up to everything including being strapped to the left side of a bike through a tankslapper/highside/tumble on a dirt road in Colorado...it was dusty and slightly thinner in spots but I still use it.) another 8lbs loaded
My bike uses a pair of pelican 1500 cases for side luggage. I typically put my rain gear and bike stuff (lube etc) in the left case, and the right case carries photographic equipment.
Extra clothes and food get shoved in wherever they can.
All told it amounts to under 25lbs of luggage for me, plus another 5lbs or so for the bike, and I've done multi-week trips packed that way. I've also done trips where I had 75lbs of junk on the bike... I had a cast iron dutch oven along one time, and other really questionable stuff. There's a lesson learned there.
BTW: I use the same specopstech bag for routine travel as well, and it's awesome. I just recently got back from 3 days in the Ozarks and that was the entirety of my luggage. It's tough, well designed, and the company gives good support...I actually had them customize something I ordered from them, nothing major but I was expecting to pay through the nose to have a standard product modified by the manufacturer...and they charged me $3...I was shocked in a good way.
That said, I don't know about the range and speed issue. Years ago I almost bought a CH-701 kit but decided that the speed wasn't sufficient... but at the time I was living in CA and my work situation was different. At the time I was seeing personal flying as more of a practical transport tool, whereas now I see it as more about fun.
As for "work style" ... it's pretty conventional by choice. I'm paid 24 vacation days + 9 holidays a year and they are all "use or lose" so there is no advantage to holding onto them. The caveat is that it's a pain to take more than 2 weeks at a stretch. Last year I did two trips to Colorado, one to California, a trip down to Big Bend national park, camping in New Mexico, Arizona...and still wound up taking a few days just to burn off time before the end of the year. This year will include California (I own a house there so it's a natural), some meandering around the Ozarks, a trip through Canada to Alaska (I'll fly commercial up to around the 49th North and road trip it from there), plus something else late in the year - haven't figured out what. I have the option of going to alternate work weeks (10/4 weeks or the like) but I don't really want to.
My theory is that if a plane can safely do 200 miles in a leg with safe reserve, and is comfortable enough for two such legs a day, it would probably work for me. That's about what my motorcycle can do per leg and frankly I end up feeling rushed and a bit silly when I do more than about 500 miles a day on a bike. I can do/have done a lot more, but what's the point?
Still thinking about it...but it seems a lot more doable now than I would've credited two days ago.
